Frederick Pride draws crowds of LGBTQ+ people and allies despite high temperatures
Chasity Vain, one of the entertainers at Frederick Pride and a frequent flyer at Western Maryland drag events, brought the heat to an already stifling-hot afternoon along Carroll Creek on Saturday.
As the drag queen danced her way around the amphitheater, the sun reflected off of her sequined headdress and sparking tights as hundreds of people in the crowd flapped multicolored fans and flags in time with the thumping music.
Now in its eleventh year, Frederick Pride has grown significantly since the first festival in 2012 (the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic). What started with about 300 attendees now reliably attracts tens of thousands of visitors from Frederick County and beyond, said Kris Fair, one of the organizers.
This year, the event featured roughly 180 vendors including government agencies, local businesses, nonprofit groups and faith-based organizations working to support members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Another 100 vendors were relegated to a waiting list, according to Tory Schilling, a member of the Frederick Pride planning committee.
Despite how much the event has changed since its inception, those who have been attending Frederick Pride for years say it hasn’t lost its charm.
2024 Frederick Pride
Performer Black-Eyed Suzy stands under a colorful umbrella along Carroll Creek during Frederick Pride on Saturday.
Marc-Anthony Chevalier said he participated in his first Frederick Pride when the event was still held in Ballenger Creek Park — “back when there was gay volleyball and they had the drag queens dancing between the picnic tables.”
Chevalier said Frederick Pride stands out as being the most “people-friendly” of all the Pride Month events he has attended.
“It’s like a party all day,” Chevalier said, “as opposed to just watching the parade, going to a bar and going home.”
Alexis Grant, a friend of Chevalier’s since they were both students at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, said she values how comfortable she can be at Frederick Pride.
“It just feels freeing, being around so many like-minded, beautiful people,” Grant said.
2024 Frederick Pride
Raven Rauth, left, Kennedy Carroll, center, and Rachel Smith, right, relax in the shade by Carroll Creek during Frederick Pride on Saturday.
Frederick Pride is organized by The Frederick Center, a nonprofit organization that serves members of the local LGBTQ+ community and their families through advocacy work, social events and support groups.
One client of the Frederick Center, 11-year-old Lu Havrilla, shared publicly on Saturday how the organization has changed their life for the better.
“At school, I was bullied for years for coming out as non-binary and cutting my hair shorter. It lowered my self-esteem so much, I started to change who I was,” Havrilla said. “With the help of the Frederick Center and all different types of kids there, I saw how to work through my problems and just be me.”
After delivering their remarks, Havrilla was given the honor of introducing Gov. Wes Moore, who on Saturday became the first sitting Maryland governor to attend Frederick Pride.
For a moment, Moore took center stage alongside Havrilla, commending the tween for their bravery “at a time when we’re seeing a whole bunch of unneeded reminders that there is still hate that needs to be displaced.”
2024 Frederick Pride
Lu Havrilla, 11, left, looks up at Gov. Wes Moore at the Carroll Creek Amphitheater during Frederick Pride on Saturday.
“I want for every single person in our state to have the strength and the confidence of you — to know that everywhere you are, it’s because you belong there as you are,” Moore told Havrilla before the two shared a hug.
In a shaded area away from the main program on the amphitheater stage, a line of women offered “free mom hugs” to any passers-by in need of an embrace.
Amy Anders, a Frederick resident, explained that she and the others are part of the Maryland chapter of Free Mom Hugs, a national network of volunteers who aim to restore and improve relationships between LGBTQ+ people and their families.
Anders said that, during her first Pride event in Baltimore, she was called over to hug an attendee who immediately burst into tears. Anders held the girl for about five minutes before asking if she was okay and pulling her in once more.
“You can’t leave those experiences without being touched — that’s why we keep coming back,” Anders said. “We go where we need to go.”
Photos: 2024 Frederick Pride
Laurie Hanley, who lives in Anne Arundel County, said she first got involved with Free Mom Hugs when a friend of her son’s from middle school later confided in her about his fear of coming out to his own mother.
“It’s a calling, clearly,” Hanley quipped.
Hanley, who now leads the group’s Maryland chapter, said that she has in recent years seen fewer young people in the LGBTQ+ community who lack supportive parents.
“Over the years, personally, I think there are less tears. We hear more now, ‘my Mom is really accepting, but I’ll take a hug anyway,’” Hanley said. “What we really hope for is to influence other parents, other families, to be more loving.”